Would You Like Some Pepper Spray with That?

Well today is not just Valentine's Day here in Bahrain.  It's also marks the one year anniversary of the protesting that has rattled this country for the past year...protests that eventually demolished the Pearl Roundabout after an overkill move by government, where a popular monument and symbol of Bahrain once stood.  Don't get me wrong - the pearl is still a symbol in Bahrain, but the area where the monument once stood now symbolizes protestors rather than the historic pearl industry of Bahrain, which was its original intent.  Everyone in this country has been on high alert and hoping for the best but expecting the worst as this anniversary day approached.

The Pearl Roundabout/Monument Last Year

The Protestors were planning and hoping to secure large numbers of people to try and "reclaim" the Pearl Roundabout, or at least the land where it once stood in all its glory.  The police have been ready for this for months and have done a great job keeping protestors at bay now that the day has arrived.  Unfortunately, the side effect is that tear gas is literally all over this country right now.  We had to deal with it at the park today and I still feel like I have the taste of it in my mouth a few hours later.  I won't complain, though.  I was hoping against the worst case scenario that the protests would keep us from leaving this weekend.  It looks like that won't happen since the police are much more organized this time around and are dispersing the crowds with quicker and greater success.  For this I am thankful.  If I have to put up with a peppery taste in my mouth if it means I'll be on a plane this weekend out of here, then I'll deal with it.

Tear Gas During the One Year Anniversary Protests

Going to the Park

We leave Bahrain in one week!  Wow!  We're trying to take the time to do things we haven't yet done or want to do again before we leave.  Today, we took Charlotte to a new park that was fantastic.  It easily compared to nice parks in the states and even had a large pool for paddle boating.  It was right on the coast so you even got a nice view of the Arabian Gulf.  The only downside was that it was VERY windy.  I'm not sure if that was just today's weather or if it's always that windy since it's right off the coast.  Even so, Charlotte had a great time today.  Below are some photos of our day and a video of Charlotte climbing up a wall and going down a spiral slide.  

 an observation deck at the park

 the playground for children under 5

 a view of the Hidd bridge from the park

 Chris at the top of the rope climb in the 6-12 year old playground....  ;-)

 Charlotte enjoying a crawl through tunnel

 going down a really tall spiral slide

 Mommy pushing Charlotte on the swing

the "pool" where you can go paddle boating...we're not sure if this is open yet but boy does it look fun

Videos and Photos

Charlotte loves looking at pictures and videos on our computer and I thought today, Why don't I post some of these on my blog?  So here you go.  Here's some videos we've recorded over the past month or so...two of them as recently as yesterday when we went to Wahoo! Waterpark again.  I've also posted some pictures of the Wahoo! Waterpark trip below the videos.  Enjoy!

Here is a video of Charlotte going down the kids slide at Wahoo! Waterpark yesterday.  She went down much bigger slides than this, but we didn't think to take video of her going down a slide until we got to the kiddie area right before we left.

I'm surprised at myself for posting this, but some people have been asking to see my preggo belly.  Here is a video that will show you how huge I am.  I'm definitely not a cute pregnant woman this time around and I'm going to have a lot of weight to lose in 2 months!  Part of this is my own fault.  I haven't exactly been eating healthy!

Here is a video taken when we went to Dubai with my brother Matt at the end of January.  The video was filmed at our hotel's pool.  Charlotte loves playing "1, 2, 3", which means being thrown from one person to another.  Uncle Matt was nice enough to take my place since it's too much pressure on my stomach to lift and throw Charlotte right now!  

This video was recorded late January at a birthday party Charlotte went to.  Charlotte loves to climb and jump and she was more entertained doing this at the party than she was playing with the other kids or doing the party games.

And here are some more Wahoo! Waterpark pictures from yesterday:

For those who might freak out at this picture, this is not a hot tub!  It's just regular temperature pool water with bubbles.  :-)  Middle Easterners don't really do hot tubs since it's usually so hot here.  This type of jet pool is what you'll usually find over here.

Promised Pictures

Here are the promised pictures of Charlotte in her dress.  It JUST fit so I think this past Friday was the last time she'll wear it.  It was difficult to get on but even harder to get off.  Poor Charlotte was not real happy with me when we tried to get it off her.  I'm just glad I didn't have to cut the dress to get it off.  It fit great once I forced it on her.  All of her 4T clothes are a bit big on her still, so either the pattern runs pretty small for a 4T or Modkid needs to revise the Addison dress pattern to have an invisible side zipper to make it easier to get on and off.  Oh well.  It's still a cute dress!  I just hate putting in all that money and work on a dress she was only able to wear once.  I'll just have to remember to make a size larger than needed or add an invisible zipper when I make this pattern again.    

And here's a bonus picture of Charlotte, my brother, and I at the Bahrain fort.  Matt was here the last 2 weeks of January and wanted to see the fort again.  My preggo belly is about 28 weeks in this picture.

More Sewing

I've recently completed a few sewing projects and they're all Oliver + S.  I just love their patterns.  They're very easy to follow and have a more tailored look than most sewing patterns.  Here's some pictures:

Oliver + S Swingset Tunic, Size 5T

Oliver + S Swingset Tunic, Size 5T

Oliver + S Swingset Tunic, Back View (Snap Closure)

Oliver + S Jump Rope Dress, Size 4T

Oliver + S Jump Rope Dress, Back View, Size 5T

Oliver + S Nature Walk Pullover, Size 4T.  I altered the pattern to have a hood instead of a collar.  I also added a flower pin for a more girly touch. 

Pants to match the Oliver + S Nature Walk Pullover.  I started with the pants tutorial from dana-made-it.com and made adjustments to help it match the pullover better.

Oliver + S Nature Walk Pullover, Back View, Size 4T.  I altered the pattern to have a hood instead of a collar.

For the Boy: Oliver + S Nature Walk Pullover, 6-12 Months

For the Boy: Oliver + S  Nature Walk Pants, Size 6-12 Months

For the Boy: Oliver + S Nature Walk Pullover, Back View, Size 6-12 Months

And here's some pictures of Charlotte in the 4T clothes:

Headed to the park.  I hadn't made the matching pants yet.

Wearing her Jump Rope dress at a birthday party last weekend.

I'm not sure what it was about her thumbnail that captivated her interest in this photo.

Yay for being at a birthday party!

Big Girl Bed

Here's a picture of Charlotte in her new, temporary "big girl" bed.  She was pretty excited when we showed this to her, but we're having a hard time getting her to nap, as I know all parents deal with when they make the transition from crib to bed.  She's gotten up a good 6 or 7 times so far with various lame reasons and I'm sure she'll get up a few more times between now and when her nap is usually over, so we'll see how long it takes to break her into the new bed without the crib rails to keep her in...hopefully before Uncle Matt gets here in a week!

Christmas Party and More Sewing

This past Friday, we went to a Christmas party for Chris's job.  As is typical with all things State Department, it was a liberal party and there was not one mention of Jesus in song or otherwise.  For some reason, it's okay for the Embassy to sponsor, host, or attend Islamic religion events (especially around Ramadan), but a Christmas party specifically for Embassy families has to be "politically correct". Bah Humbug!  They put together a group of people to sing "Christmas Carols" at the party, and I was going to participate, but when I saw all the music was holiday jingles and that none of the songs had even a single mention of Jesus, I decided not to participate.  It was originally on the calendar as a "Holiday Party", so I guess I should be happy it was at least called a "Christmas Party" in the end.  Although, what is Christmas without Christ?  On our way there, I told Chris I wish I had a huge nativity necklace to wear to the party.  But I digress. As I stated in a previous post, I decided to make a Christmas dress for Charlotte to wear to the party and promised in that post to take plenty of pictures of her in it.  Well, here are those pictures!

Charlotte with her "ee ee" before we left.  I couldn't get her to smile.  I think she was still tired from her nap since we had to get her up earlier than normal to head to the party.

Charlotte and I before leaving.

Charlotte in a gazebo in the Ambassador's front yard.

Charlotte decorating a Christmas cookie.  I entered a Christmas cookie contest at the party and entered Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.  I got third place....out of five.  :-)  I thought they tasted great, but I guess if not all the judges liked pumpkin....

Charlotte Decorating a Christmas Cookie

Back of Charlotte's Christmas Dress

Big smile!  This was the best smile we got from her all day.  She loves saying "Merry Christmas!" and smiles really big every time she says it.  She was in the middle of saying it when I took this picture.

Charlotte waiting for a Christmas story and for a present from Santa.

The Ambassador reading a Christmas story to the kids.  Chris was asked to read it if the Ambassador couldn't make it to the party (he was called away for something).  The Ambassador showed up literally a minute or two before Chris was going up there to read...bummer!

 Charlotte getting a gift from Mom and Dad via Santa.  She was shy once again.

On top of going to a Christmas party, I finished another outfit for The Boy.  I bought some teddy bear sailor fabric here in Bahrain about a year ago and figured I'd find a use for it someday.  I thought it had an adorable Japanese vibe to it and thought it was cute enough to add to my stash.  I looked through my sewing patterns and found one with an infant boy's sailor romper.  I wasn't sure if it would be super duper cute, but I thought I'd give it a try since I happened to have all the notions the pattern called for, along with coordinating fabric.  Even now that it's done, I'm not sure I love it.   I definitely wouldn't love it for a 2 year old, but for a 3-6 month old?  Maybe.  It's probably a little too cutesie for anything behind a 3-6 month old, but I did get Chris's stamp of approval on it, which is comforting.  Feel free to tell me your thoughts...good and bad.